Sharing ideas and information on auto, home and other insurance.

Category Archives: coverage

I hope this finds you doing well. It’s been a bit and I know things can be tough for some of us. Safe to say it could be more challenging now than when you started in the business. Honestly, if there was an insurance police this would be something they would want to know about, but since there is not I’ll just write this note to you.

So it is time to take my own advice again. With renewals for auto and home insurance pending I decided to do some shopping. I’ve definitely written about what to do when your rate goes up but this time I did things a little different.

START; Unfortunately my home is basically unmovable, two claims in less than five years. So I look at what the rate will be without a multi-policy discount. But wait, it gets a little worse. I had a stretch in 2012 and early 2013 with three tickets. Not good. But, on a plus side, my wife’s two claims are now over five years old so they fall off.

Well Glass coverage, as it is commonly called, comes with your comprehensive coverage. Pretty common here in New York and to be honest, I have no idea why you would want to have comprehensive coverage and not glass coverage. Really, it comes down to a math equation. Average new windshield cost is $200+ mine just cost my insurance company $341.22. My comprehensive coverage is about $100 a year. Not a bad gig for me nor is it a bad idea for most people. Honestly could be the best value in all of insurance, also the most used. Goes right there with your Towing and Labor coverage.

Sort of. Let’s talk about life insurance for a minute. Definitely needs to be at or near the top of the list for everybody. Key here is getting something because reality is that something is better than nothing. The majority of the population can use some financial help when a loved one dies.

This help can be to cover a funeral or other last wishes. It is also important to take some time to grieve. Then of course there are all those household expenses that might be your responsibility. Maybe you have just taken out this policy just so you can leave money to family members because there is no one depending on your income. These are all great reasons to have it in place.

My guess is when the public steps up and demands it. A pig in a blanket, the same pig using an app to do car changes when it should be engaging with the people around it. A goofball called mayhem? Jobu(major league reference) doing voice overs for people getting bonus checks. Seriously would you cut a branch down over your neighbors car. And it keeps going.

Let’s face it if you are in insurance renters insurance is a “throw away” kind of policy. Doesn’t cost much therefore many agents do not like to spend time on it. Some of us happen to love it. Because it is so inexpensive it should become more like a “Well it is so inexpensive why wouldn’t you…” And that is almost exactly right. It is also a really great thing to do for you and your landlord.

Seriously, that is what it cost when I went to visit my grandmother at the hospital. That is awful, I have paid less to go to professional sporting events. $8 can provide adequate nutrition for at least 1 person if not 2 for a day but instead it bought me a parking spot for 1 hour. There is more than enough evidence that it is the presence of loved ones that truly enables healing yet they make it difficult. So let’s dive a little deeper;

This might be the toughest question I have to answer when it comes to insuring a home. Why? Because the reality is that at the time you start a policy, unless you just built the home, you really have no definite way of knowing this number. So here is my take; When in doubt always make sure you feel comfortable. Here are some things to do;

1. As an agent I use any public data I can get my hands on. This is combined with what you tell me then I input it into the company provided home replacement cost estimator. Out comes your homes replacement cost and per company policy you have to have this as your minimum level of coverage.

Each year my family packs up and heads to Cape May New Jersey for a week of fun with my in-laws, my wife’s brother and sister as well as their families. Now this is something we have been doing for years and have not really given any thought to insuring. See your homeowners policy has some coverage for you as does your umbrella policy if you have one. Also, realistically you cannot insure everything in your life sometimes you just have to live and deal with what may come up.